National Brain Cancer Collaboration Awarded
a $6 Million Medical Research Future Fund Grant


Brain cancer is a devastating disease that takes the life of more children and adult under 40 than any other cancer. These grant funds will support the development of Australia’s first integrated network of brain cancer research platforms that will improve patient outcomes today, test new treatments for tomorrow, and find cures for the future.

The project brings together clinicians, researchers and healthcare specialists from institutions across the country to establish three essential interlinked platforms:

  • An Australian Brain Cancer Registry to systematically collect the treatment and outcome data of as many Australians living with brain cancer as possible. This will help researchers identify and address variations in clinical practice and outcomes, with the aim of immediately increasing the quality of care that every patient experiences.                                                                                                                    
  • Registry Clinical Trials and Patient Enrolment Platform to enable rapid, cost-effective clinical trials and patient donations of data and specimens for research. This will allow researchers to partner with people living with brain cancer across the country, testing novel ideas designed to improve patient survival.                                                                                                                                                                   
  • Biobanking and Organoid Platform to establish national standards and protocols for brain cancer biobanking and the creation of Australian brain cancer organoids – cutting-edge brain tumour models. This will assist in providing the resources Australia needs to drive the innovative genomic research that will deliver new treatments in brain cancer.
“The significance of this grant cannot be overstated. These funds will enable our national collaboration to establish an integrated network of research platforms that will not just be an Australian-first, but a world-first in brain cancer.” - Project Lead and BCBA Chair, Associate Professor Lindy Jeffree.

BCBA and A/Prof Jeffree will work closely with platform leads, A/Prof Craig Gedye and Prof Bryan Day, to coordinate this ground-breaking project and broad collaboration that includes, the CSIRO e-Health Research Centre, Cancer Alliance Qld, Ramsay Hospital Research Foundation, all Australian State Health Departments, Australian Families 4 Genomics, Population Health Research Network, Phenomics Australia, Australian Research Data Commons and Bioplatforms Australia. The administering institution for this grant is the University of Sydney. 

Teamwork such as this would not possible without the funding enabled by BCBA’s charity arm, the Brain Cancer Collective (BCC). Our charity team works tirelessly to raise awareness and much-needed seed funding for BCBA initiatives.

“This grant is like a dream come true.” said BCBA/BCC Founder, Robyn Leonard OAM, “Australian brain cancer patients are the key partners and ultimate winners with this incredible investment in collaborative research. We look forward to working with you all on this important national initiative.”